Istrian "green uhljeb" Josip Anton Rupnik again received county money. We find out what he spends it on, instead of organic production
This year, too, we have not been able to find out what the Ekop Istra Association, which has been led for a long time by the enterprising green politician Josip Anton Rupnik, who is also the president of the Green Party, is doing. As many times before, Rupnik managed to get significant funds from the county budget at the expense of his Association, unchallenge
Probably due to the crisis, his funds were cut a little, so in 2020, in the time after the crown of the crisis and universal savings, he receives "only" 100 thousand kuna, which is 86 thousand kuna less than last year. For comparison, the association of winegrowers and winemakers of Istria Vinistra, which gathers 130 members, received only one hundred thousand kuna more than Josip Anton Rupnik. In the past seven years, Rupnik's Association has received as much as 1.2 million kuna from the county budget, so it would be very desirable if the beneficiary would specifically clarify what these funds are spent on.
On the other hand, it would be expected that the competent county commission will closely monitor what the money is given for and how it is used. The Ekop Istra association has its headquarters in the same location as Rupnik's Green Alliance party, and this year's county money should be used for "ecological food production, eco-agritourism and protection of the environment and nature". But that's just how it says on paper.
We asked Josip Anton Rupnik where the money goes and if he can tell us which projects and activities he will use it for this year. However, even after ten minutes of conversation and specific questions, it was not possible to extract a meaningful explanation from it, let alone a specification of costs or specific activities that were financed with budget money. However, he confirmed that the association has an employed secretary, so the money is spent on his salary, and they spend about 9 thousand kuna a year for accounting services. He admitted that part of the money goes to the party's expenses, although that party receives funds from the county budget, depending on the number of councilors represented in the county assembly.
- We tidied up the party rooms, painted the walls, lowered the ceiling and now it is really nicely decorated, said Rupnik, who did not know exactly how much they pay for renting the space. In each tender for the allocation of funds, we enclose a program and work plan, he said, and when asked what they spent last year's 186 thousand kuna on, we again did not receive an answer.
- We sent all the necessary reports because we are obliged to do so by law. We also have terrain costs and travel expenses. We are often in the field and people ask for help, so we are present at the markets in Umag, Pazin, Labin Rovinj, Porec. We are watching what is happening, we are checking eco-producers, says Rupnik. He confirmed that they have about 150 members, although he said last year that they have about 40.
He successfully and without any control finances his association from the county treasury and sees nothing disputable in the fact that he, as part of the ruling coalition and a councilor in the county assembly, votes on the allocation of budget funds to the Ekop Istra Association, which he heads.
- There is nothing disputable here, says Rupnik, claiming that all competent bodies rejected the reports that went in that direction and that it was all a deception of the public. Thus, Rupnik from the position of county councilor has the opportunity to favor himself, and he has been doing so for many years.
The allocation of funds from the budget would not be disputable if there was a public and transparent overview of the activities of the Ekop Istra Association, which, although founded in 1996, does not have its own website, it is not known what is in their sphere of interest. in what programs and projects they participate and in what ways they help their members.
We also talked to some former members of the Ekop Istra Association (data known to the editorial office) who left due to dissatisfaction, and today they are members of the Istrian Agricultural Product Association. They confirm that politics is behind everything, and although completely harmless and deprived of any criticism for years, its financing goes according to the political key.
The Istrian Ecological Product Association received 130 thousand kunas this year, and according to President Dorian Siljan, all that money is evenly allocated to members to finance ecological supervision.
While Rupnik called himself a pioneer of organic production in Istria, which is why he believes that he has the exclusive right to appropriate the entire organic production on the Peninsula, he is actually very cunningly charging for his idea and this strategy has been passing him by for years. Regardless of the fact that the County has been financing him with a fist and a hat for years, he once even stated that he owed him one million kunas, because they incorporated his ideas into their development guidelines.
In any case, the fact is that every year he successfully manages to collect the threshing of empty straw, as evidenced by our last conversation in which he could not explain what he will spend this year's hundred thousand kuna.
Among other things, Rupnik confirmed that as a councilor in the County Assembly he receives 700 kunas per session, to which should be added 300 kunas for travel expenses. As a member of the County Committee for Physical Planning, Environmental Protection and Construction, he also receives HRK 500 per session. Rupnik also received an honorary position on the supervisory board of the Pula funeral company Monte Giro, where as president he earns a thousand kunas a month. His party colleague and president of the Supervisory Board of Ekop Istra Gordana Ferenčić enjoys the position of president of the Supervisory Board in the Pula city company Castrum, where she also receives a thousand kunas a month. Another “green” has been hoarded to the Supervisory Board. This is the vice president of Ekop Istra, Ivan Mihovilović, who is the deputy president of the Supervisory Board, Marin Lerotić, in the company Pula Sport.
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